The doors of the Inn in which the expedition stayed, were opened wide.
The patron that entered was a woman. A young woman by the looks, with smooth, jet black hair and green eyes. Her wardrobe was intricate. Lavish mail armor, no doubt crafted by Clan Amat. The armor was black as well. Like Halfman, the woman wore black robes with red accents and bronze lining, parts of which were cowered by the armor. Her staff was intricately carved. Two serpent heads held a red crystal as a headpiece for the staff. the shaft was covered with carvings of arcane runes.
She looked around the inn. The dining area was full of the Brotherhood members. She spotted Halfman conversing with Orryth. The midget wizard spotted her too. The woman smiled at him warmly.
- Halfman, you sly weasel, so nice to see you. - She exclaimed.
- It's been a while Nightshade. - The tiny sorcerer replied.
The sorceress took a seat by the same table as Halfman.
- So, when't the captain coming?
- Should be back soon. - Halfman replied. - He's meeting with the captain of the Seventh Sons now.
____________
Lithuanian folklore:
The Good and the Evil grab a few beers and go to watch how the neighbor's house is burning down.
* * *
"Ashan to the Trashcan", "I got PTSD from H7. " - LizardWarrior

Upon reaching the city, Alder's first order of business was to find a barber. He spent his time relaxing and resting from the long road and the battles, knowing that there are bound to be more of them in the near future, and that facing them exhausted would be a terrible idea.
____________

The sorceress chuckled.
- I'm afraid pleasantries will have to wait. Nor am I interested in young, headstrong dryads. - She calmly said.
- So, Nightsahde, what you been up to here? - Halfman asked.
- On an assignment. I was here in the North for the last three months. Been investigating anything that may be leading to the cult. Last incursion was this doomsayer ring. The stationed Companies did excellent job in rooting them out.
- I see. - Halfman said.
- May I see that tome you found on the initiates?- She asked.
- Right here - Halfman said as he opened his large satchel. - He placed the bound book on the table.
- And no keystone was found?
- No - Halfman said as he refilled his cup. - We searched the corpses very thoughrouly. Seems the cult is amassing the poorer smallfolk to their cause.
- Was it ever any other way? - Nightshade pondered as she reached for a drink as well.
- Promise of food and a warm shelter is indeed a big motivation for some.- Halfman agreed. The sorceress examined the tome.
- What do you think it holds within?- She asked.
- Summoning rituals mostly. Voidspawn binding. creating thralls. Without the keystone it's impossible to say. - Halfman said. - Speaking of voidspawns... We fought a bound voidspirit in Grovestead earlier today.
- A bound one? Was it powerful?
- No. It was within the early stages, the host body hasn't mutated significantly yet. It lead the cult militia in Grovestead. From the slaughter there, I think thy were trying to summon one of the greater voidspawns, most likely to besiege Beryl.
- The city's far too well defended, even for a voidspawn attack - Nightshade said.
- maybe the tactic is to incite terror upon the populace.
- Another relic has been found? - Nightshade asked.
- Not yet found. But one dwarf is certain that he knows where it lies.
- Which one is it this time Halfman? Which relic? - The sorceress asked.
- The Malus.
- Then this is indeed a serious, as you had reported to the elders. - She said and sighed.

as the two sorcerers were conversing, Domerth had returned from his meeting with the Captain of the Seventh Sons.
- My lord - Halfman began - Here is Nightshade, one of the most talented sorceresses of Clan Samann. She will be aiding us on our quest.
- A pleasure. - Domerth said. - I understand you served with the Brotherhood before?
- Indeed I did. I aided your lord father during the War, and am part of the Brotherhood, as your tradition requests it. - The sorceress replied.
- Excellent - Domerth said. He was filled in on what the sorceress was doing in the North. Soon after more wine, as well as some cheese with assorted cured meats were served, and Domerth with the two sorcerers were studying the map of the North.
- The trek to Emerald isn't very safe. - Nighthsade said The patriarch of Topaz declared war on Emerald, several of the other Free Companies are involved, the Fire Hawks for Topaz and Silver Sword on Emeralds side. Battles been fierce there. A small expedition like ours could be mistaken for spies, or saboteurs by either side. Diamond as you perfectly know for yourselves is now a no-man's land. And the Cult has been spotted in a large mass there.
- Looks like we have no choice but to take the western road to Sapphire and Garnet to reach Onyx.
- Indeed. But we need to be wary, passing merchants said about vast brigands as well as dangerous beasts, trying to attack the travelers.
- What sort of beasts? - Domerth asked.
- Wyverns. as well as some others. - The sorceress replied.
- Better them than facing full fury of the cult, while being vastly outnumbered.- He said. - Let's see what our newest spy will bring.
- You employ a spy? - the Sorceress seemed surprised.
- Picked one up on our way here. Seemed to know his trade. And could provide some more information that may be beyond reach of a Samman inquisitor - Domerth said.
- True - Nightshade didn't argued. - We of the Samann lack a certain subtlety.
- Let's wait for Larkas to see what he brings to the table. - Domerth said as he poured himself a glass.
____________
Lithuanian folklore:
The Good and the Evil grab a few beers and go to watch how the neighbor's house is burning down.
* * *
"Ashan to the Trashcan", "I got PTSD from H7. " - LizardWarrior

-Wyverns you said?- Federigo inquired: -I'll say, that reminds me of the story of Thorvald, son of Yorick, the beastmaster, according to some he managed to tame a wyvern, others simply say he found a way to avoid their fury without risking too much.-

Federigo then took a little piece of parchment in which he wrote several names of cities and landmarks in a column, and what he had read could be found in another.

-We can probably find someone who heard of him in this place, should luck favour us he may even be near here.-
____________
PLVTOCRATIC AND REACTIONARY DEMOCRACIES OF THE WEST

Larkas starts running and finds and takes several turns around some streets. Catching some breath, he manages to set a trap.

"Lucky me to have such skills." Larkas mutters. "And that the people at the keep provided me with such supplies."

He goes back whence he came and walks around a bit. Feeling he gained the attention of the spy, he starts casually walking to an enmpty alley. There, he runs off further and taking another turn, he waits for a minute until he hears a scream.

- "ARGH! Damnation!" the man starts cursing.
- "Bear traps don't work only on bears. It is also fortunate that I found some garbage to conceal the trap." Larkas replies. "Why were you following me?"
- "The gnome may be weak, but he has some good cash to pay me to hunt you down. This alley would've been a perfect place to teach you some *manners*." The man replies. Larkas notes the man is actually quite tough and strong. A battle with him could be fatal, even.
- "I did say I was a bounty hunter, no? You can't easily expect to hunt the hunter." Larkas starts throwing some blunt objects at the man in the head until he falls down. In a few moments, Larkas retrieves the trap and takes a bit of the cash the man had.

With the matter settled, Larkas is soon at the fountain. There were some beggars around, but one particular was quite unusual. Unlike others, she seemed to be praying than to be begging for cash.
- Larkas approaches her. "Are you the one known as the Beggar?"
- "To some I am a beggar, to others I am much more. You can call me the Beggar if you wish."
- Larkas is uncertain by this woman. "Erm, well, I was told you know about certain people around here. Do you know about a specific couple, named Crimson and Clover?"
- "Ah, I do know where one of them is. What is your offering? Everything has its price."
- "I suppose I could give you some gold..."
- The Beggar frowns. "Material values are only temporary. I am asking for a spiritual offering; what can you teach me?"
- Larkas is even more surprised by the minute. "Er, well... I could... oh, wait." Larkas takes out the notebook of the cultist he managed to take. "Here, maybe this could help?"
- The Beggar takes the diary. "What an intersting thing. One of the people you seek, called Clover, is in the prison of this town. I do not know about the other one, though." The woman returns the notebook.

Larkas leaves, pondering how weird this experience was. He starts thinking the woman has some sort of a photographic memory if she read the notebook so quickly. Regardless, he goes to the prison to find more what happened.

By the entrance to the prison of Beryl, Larkas has been stopped by two guards, who belonged to the Silver Gryphons company.
- No visitors allowed. Official business only.- One of the guards exclaimed.
____________
Lithuanian folklore:
The Good and the Evil grab a few beers and go to watch how the neighbor's house is burning down.
* * *
"Ashan to the Trashcan", "I got PTSD from H7. " - LizardWarrior

- "NATCO bounty hunter. I'm here for Crimson." Larkas quickly shows some sort of a badge, then puts it back and shows the notebook. "She knows what this is about. It's very urgent and I have to be brief."

"Bloody 'ell you two talk a lot 'bout magic stuff and I ain't sure I follow what yer on about! I'll probably just get out o' yer hair and Nightshade, dun' knock 'til ya try it" she said, leaving with a wink and once again joined the more loud part of the inn to drink and boast.

The guards looked at each other.
- All right. Be quick about it.- One said. The other had opened the door.
- The one you seek is in the second level.- The first guard said.
____________
Lithuanian folklore:
The Good and the Evil grab a few beers and go to watch how the neighbor's house is burning down.
* * *
"Ashan to the Trashcan", "I got PTSD from H7. " - LizardWarrior

With his latest teacher currently busy, Orryth decided to head outside. He wanted to do a little practice using a bit of the teaching he had just received. Taking a deep breath and readying his hands, he stated the incantation he had in mind. Upon completion he rose one of his hands into the sky. A cold blue line streaked out from it. The orc smiled and looked around, a big grin on his face. Hearing a blast, he looked up. A blue puff had appeared in the sky. His smile quickly vanished as he could faintly see in the distance what had happened. "Everybody take cover!" the orc called out to anyone and everyone that could hear. He ran and dove as fast as he could under a nearby wagon, just as a hailstorm of ice shards rained down upon the area.
____________
Blasted digital always resetting itself, over and over again. To analog!

It didn't take long for Larkas to find Clover. She is pale and wears ragged clothes. However, she still has the notable ponytail.
- "You, step closer." Larkas orders Clover.
- Clover does so, but with a certain amount of sadness. "What do you want?"
- Larkas takes his eyepatch off. "Aunt Clover..."
- Clover is in shock. "You? How did you come here, Lakras?"
- Larkas explains the events since his mother died. "Eventually, I came here, looking for you."
- "I am sorry about your mother."
- "Thank you. But what are you doing behind those bars?"
- Clover becomes even more sad. "I'll try to make the story short. Three months ago, when the business was too risky in Manaar, Crimson and I went to find other places where we could do business. Eventually, we came here and found an abandoned warehouse. It took some time, but we managed to settle there. The next month, we were looking for certain business associates and found some in Onyx. The trade relations were set and soon a lot of items were stored in our warehouse, like weapons, armor, food, medicine etc. Life was fine, until one day some men came. They were heavily cloaked, but they wanted to do business with us. We refused, since we didn't know anything about these men. A few days later, they returned and still offered us certain things, including *the medicine*."
- "What kind of medicine?" Larkas wonders.
- "I still refused, but Crimson tasted that and it made him act strange. Said he saw *rainbows*. I shunned away those people and realized that Crimson took was drugs. A week later, there was certain trouble with the shipment in Onyx, so Crimson decided to take some men and go there, leaving me in charge. But, even worse, it was when the tragedy struck. Those same men came and attacked everybody and one even set a fire in the warehouse. A lot of people were killed until Beryl's guards came and stopped the assault. But, since they saw it was an illegal operation, they threw me here, in jail, about two weeks ago, along with the rest of the men that survived the attack."
- "Geez. What happened to Crimson?"
- "I don't know. He hasn't returned yet, so I suspect something went wrong in Onyx."

Larkas is silent. He didn't expect things to have gone this rough. Even if there was a hint how Clover and Crimson may get arrested, they would at least bribe the guards and close the warehouse for a few weeks until the situation cools down.
- "Just who were these men?"
- "I don't know either. But I think one of them mentioned Jegnin or something."
- "Jagnir." Larkas corrects her. "My team mates and I ran into these guys before."
- "How strange." Clover replies.
- "So what do you expect of me to do?"
- "Try to find Crimson. As said, he supposedly is in Onyx. Oh, and yeah, *teach* those Jagnirists that we don't do drugs."
- "Will do, Aunt, will do. Whoops!"

Larkas drops some coins on the ground and picks them up. He bids Aunt Clover farewell, who waves her hand, then takes the lockpick Larkas *accidentally* left on the floor and hides it in her cell.

- Yes 'Elepaio of Clan Agnirri, I am your "new" Samann mage - Nightshade said calmly. Around the same moment, Orryth's accidentally conjured hail began hitting the rooftops and the streets. Through the window you could see that the pieces of hail were as big as quail eggs. you could hear townsfolk running away and taking cover. Within minutes the hail was over.

- A bit too early for this sort of weather - Nightshade noted.
- I think it's not the weather.- Halfman said- Amongst us is an aspiring orcish sorcerer. He lacks training. I've been giving him some pointers before you arrived.

The sound of a horn was in the distance. with the freak weather accident now over, Domerth came out to see the source of it. It seemed like the Silver Gryphon Scouts had returned from their mission. Domerth seen them riding past. They didn't looked good. Many bore various injuries, and of some, only horses had remained, carrying no riders, save for bits of their gear.
- I wonder what they saw there. - Domerth said to himself.
____________
Lithuanian folklore:
The Good and the Evil grab a few beers and go to watch how the neighbor's house is burning down.
* * *
"Ashan to the Trashcan", "I got PTSD from H7. " - LizardWarrior

"Well, a tad cold, did Halfman poison the well?", she responded to Nightshade sipping from her cup. She lazily watched the hailstorm pass.

"You should probably teach him where to practice too, with his "skills", that could of burnt the city down", she said to Halfman.
____________
"Don't resist the force. Redirect it. Water over rock."-blizzardboy

- "What strange weather." Larkas comments on the hail. He comes to the inn and describes what happened to his superiors.
- "Not confirmed, but there's a good chance that our enemy is actually providing these substances to affect their minds. Could explain their wild, violent behavior."

- He obviously lacks focus and discipline. I do wonder what his adopted mother taught him. - Halfman said.
- Seems like a mash of different disciplines.- Nightshade added.
Domerth returned to the inside of the Inn.
- That Silver Gryphons scouting party just returned. - He announced. - And they didn't looked to well. Which can confirm our suspicions of the Cult's activities in Diamond.

Meanwhile Magnus was working at the forge, making the blades of the fans. The armorer of the Silver Gryphons was also there, a dwarf as well, though much older than Magnus, and shorter as well. He was busy shaping a cuirass to form.
So far the dwarf was completed the first of the fans, save for the assembly. It was a hefty piece of work, since Magnus rarely forged multi part weaponry. He did enjoyed the challenge however.

Domerth sat by the map, a mug of ale near him. The route was clear now. He decided to go to the market for tommorow, to pick up some supplies. He had listened to Larkas' report.
- Interesting. - He said. - Usually, it's sheer fanaticism that motivates the cultists. And this substance... what is it? A drug of some sorts?
- Like Deshnak? - Halfman asked. Deshnak was a name of a herbal mixture, which then made into a paste or dried gave vivid sensations and induce mirth and ecstasy upon the user, and was popular amongst the poorer Emerdinan smallfolk. - Or something stronger all together?

- I am heading to the Silver Gryphon headquarters. Anyone else wish to join? - Domerth said
- I'll go. - Nightshade said.
- Halfman?
- No, I'll pass. - The tiny sorcerer said. - I need to have a word with Orryth about his spells. And to hear more about this substance Larkas mentioned.
Domerth waited a bit to hear if anyone else wished to accompany him.
____________
Lithuanian folklore:
The Good and the Evil grab a few beers and go to watch how the neighbor's house is burning down.
* * *
"Ashan to the Trashcan", "I got PTSD from H7. " - LizardWarrior

"I'll come with you." John said entering the tavern. When the company booked their rooms the half giant said he needed to check something and left. Whatever he found, it was clear he didn't like it.
____________
geny is a meanie - fred79

The streets after the hailstorm were quieter, with people slowing coming out from their homes or any shelter they took.
The headquarters of the Silver Gryphons was down the street, in a featureless grey stone building. On it's walls, banners of the company were hung. This Free Company wore quartered green and brown tabards, with a silver gryphon in the center.
The guards opened the doors and allowed Domerth and his companions to pass. They immediatly went to Captain's Quarters. The captain of the Silver Gryphons was not a lot older than Domerth. The leader of the returned scouting party was present as well.
- Lord Dragonheart. Sorceress. - The captain nodded. - I suppose you wish to hear what we learned at Diamond?
- That is the intention of this visit captain - Domerth replied.
- We found the cult alright. - The scout leader said. - They found some of us as well.
- What were they doing there?
- We've seen some digging equipment. Not much of it, and that's too in poor condition to say the least.
- Seem's like they're digging for something.
- Aye. But they'll gonna need better tools if they wanna go something fast. Diamond was built from granite. - The scout said. His right eye was bandaged up. - These days they seem to work their initiates to death. There were several weird looking ones too.
- What do you mean by weird? - Nghtshade asked.
- One of 'em, got massive wings, kinda like bat's wings. as well as horns, three pairs total. And was no shorter than this half-giant fellow. - The scout said. - The other had four arms, as well as horns and scaly skin.
Nghtshade frowned.
- So they managed to summon more. - She said.
- And with Topaz warring with Emerald, they got a perfect distraction. - Domerth added.
- Indeed. - The captain agreed. - But what can we do about that?
- My first guess would be to break up the war between Emerald and Topaz. - Domerth said. - But we won't do it with fighting. That would be giving what the enemy wants. To squabble between ourselves, while they complete their own objective and wipe us out.
- I will notify the elders. - Nightshade said. - Something tells me that this war between the freeholds is not a fight for better trade routes or influence.
____________
Lithuanian folklore:
The Good and the Evil grab a few beers and go to watch how the neighbor's house is burning down.
* * *
"Ashan to the Trashcan", "I got PTSD from H7. " - LizardWarrior

A few minutes after the shards of ice stopped falling from the sky, Orryth came limping in, his usual jovial look clearly not on his face, and his pickaxe hanging in his left hand. Giving the room a brief scan, Orryth started making his way slowly towards his room.
____________
Blasted digital always resetting itself, over and over again. To analog!